Araya and Slayer Snag a Grammy

Bassist Tom Araya‘s band Slayer was honored with a Grammy in the “Best Metal Performance” category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 50th annual Grammy Awards, which was held yesterday (Sunday, February 10) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band was nominated for the track “The Final Six”, from their 2007 limited-edition “Christ Illusion”. The song, written by Araya and guitarist Jeff Hanneman and produced by Josh Abraham, is a chilling look at a hypothesized “end of the world” scenario. The track made its debut last July as the “Single of the Week” on MySpace where it has since accumulated some 750,000 plays, an astounding number for a song that received no commercial airplay.

A visibly nervous Araya accepted the award, stating, “Thank you very much. I don’t know what to say. This is our second time. I have to thank Sony, first off, for reissuing the record and putting this new song on the album, and now I’m here again—we are here again, actually. Most of all, [I'd like to] thank Rick Rubin [producer and head of American Recordings], who’s been with us, been there for us for the past 23 years, 24 years. Thank you. My wife, my two kids; Sandra [wife], Ariel and Tommy. They’re here with me. Of course, my manager, who’s been with us for a good 20 years now. Well, thank you very much. Thank the Academy. Thank you.”

Slayer’s two previous Grammy nominations were for 2002’s “Disciple” from the album “God Hates Us All”, and last year’s “Eyes of the Insane”, for which they took home the Grammy Award.

Only albums released between October 1, 2006, and September 30, 2007, could be considered for this year’s awards. The Grammys are determined by 12,000 music industry professionals who belong to the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.